1981 NCAA Division I baseball season

The 1981 NCAA Division I baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began in the spring of 1981. The season progressed through the regular season and concluded with the 1981 College World Series. The College World Series, held for the thirty fifth time in 1981, consisted of one team from each of eight regional competitions and was held in Omaha, Nebraska at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium as a double-elimination tournament. Arizona State claimed the championship for the fifth time.[1]

1981 NCAA Division I baseball season
Number of teams248
NCAA tournament
College World Series
ChampionsArizona State (5th title)
Runners-upOklahoma State (9th CWS Appearance)
Winning CoachJim Brock (2nd title)
MOPStan Holmes (Arizona State)
Seasons
← 1980
1982 →

Conference winners

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This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1981 season. The NCAA sponsored regional competitions to determine the College World Series participants. Seven regionals of four teams and one of six each competed in double-elimination tournaments, with the winners advancing to Omaha. 21 teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference championship while 13 teams earned at-large selections.[1][2]

Conference Regular season Winner Conference tournament Tournament venue • city Tournament winner
Atlantic Coast Conference Clemson/NC State 1981 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball tournament Boshamer StadiumChapel Hill, NC Clemson
Big Eight Conference Missouri 1981 Big Eight Conference baseball tournament All Sports StadiumOklahoma City, OK Oklahoma State
Big Ten Conference East - Michigan
West - Minnesota
1981 Big Ten Conference baseball tournament Ray Fisher StadiumAnn Arbor, MI Michigan
EIBL Yale No tournament
Mid-American Conference Central Michigan 1981 Mid-American Conference baseball tournament Bill Theunissen StadiumMount Pleasant, MI Eastern Michigan
Midwestern City Conference North - Xavier
South - Oral Roberts
1981 Midwestern City Conference baseball tournament Tulsa, OK Oral Roberts
Pacific-10 Conference North - Washington
South - Arizona State
No tournament
Southeastern Conference East - Florida
West - Mississippi State/Alabama
1981 Southeastern Conference baseball tournament Dudy Noble FieldStarkville, MS Florida
Southern Conference East Tennessee State/Marshall/Western Carolina No tournament
Southwest Conference Texas 1981 Southwest Conference baseball tournament Disch–Falk FieldAustin, TX Texas
Trans America Athletic Conference East - Georgia Southern
West - Hardin–Simmons
1981 Trans America Athletic Conference baseball tournament Hunter FieldAbilene, TX Mercer

Conference standings

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The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:

1981 Atlantic Coast Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Clemson  ‍y 10 4   .714 34 24   .586
NC State  ‍‍‍ 10 4   .714 33 12   .733
Maryland  ‍‍‍ 7 3   .700 23 13   .639
Virginia  ‍‍‍ 8 5   .615 28 20   .583
Duke  ‍‍‍ 6 6   .500 29 10   .744
North Carolina  ‍‍‍ 6 7   .462 38 15   .717
Wake Forest  ‍‍‍ 3 9   .250 17 13   .567
Georgia Tech  ‍‍‍ 1 13   .071 14 24   .368
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 1981[3]
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1981 Big Eight Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 30 Missouri  ‍‍‍y 17 6   .739 43 16   .729
No. 2 Oklahoma State  ‍‍y 12 6   .667 52 17   .754
Kansas  ‍‍‍ 12 11   .522 32 19   .627
Nebraska  ‍‍‍ 11 11   .500 42 22   .656
Oklahoma  ‍‍‍ 11 13   .458 40 15   .727
Kansas State  ‍‍‍ 8 12   .400 34 21   .618
Iowa State  ‍‍‍ 6 18   .250 34 22   .607
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 1981[4]
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1981 Big Ten Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
Michigan  x‍‍y 10 4   .714 41 20   .672
Purdue  ‍‍‍ 8 6   .571 34 30   .531
Ohio State  ‍‍‍ 7 9   .438 34 18   .654
Michigan State  ‍‍‍ 6 8   .429 23 28   .451
Indiana  ‍‍‍ 5 9   .357 23 25   .479
West
Minnesota  x‍‍‍ 13 3   .813 37 16   .698
Illinois  ‍‍‍ 11 3   .786 35 26   .574
Iowa  ‍‍‍ 8 6   .571 44 21   .677
Wisconsin  ‍‍‍ 3 13   .188 24 36   .400
Northwestern  ‍‍‍ 3 13   .188 17 33   .340
x – Division champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 1981[5][6]
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1981 Eastern 8 Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
East
Rutgers  x‍‍ 5 3 0   .625 18 19 1   .487
UMass  ‍‍‍ 4 4 0   .500 22 17 0   .564
Rhode Island  ‍‍‍ 3 5 0   .375 14 18 0   .438
West
West Virginia  x‍‍‍ 6 2 0   .750 17 18 0   .486
Pittsburgh  ‍‍‍ 7 3 0   .700 25 8 0   .758
George Washington  ‍‍‍ 3 3 0   .500 18 20 0   .474
Duquesne  ‍‍‍ 0 8 0   .000 13 12 0   .520
x – Division champion
‡ – Championship Series champion
As of June 30, 1981
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1981 Mid-American Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
Central Michigan  ‍‍‍ 13 3 0   .813 37 13 0   .740
Western Michigan  ‍‍‍ 14 3 1   .806 32 21 1   .602
Miami  ‍‍‍ 12 5 1   .694 22 27 1   .450
Eastern Michigan  ‍‍y 9 7 0   .563 37 29 0   .561
Toledo  ‍‍‍ 8 9 0   .471 30 20 0   .600
Northern Illinois  ‍‍‍ 6 10 2   .389 19 26 2   .426
Kent State  ‍‍‍ 5 8 0   .385 13 18 1   .422
Bowling Green  ‍‍‍ 5 8 0   .385 13 18 1   .422
Ohio  ‍‍‍ 5 13 0   .278 12 34 0   .261
Ball State  ‍‍‍ 4 12 0   .250 18 22 0   .450
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 1981[7]
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1981 Pacific-10 Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Northern
Washington  x‍‍‍ 12 6   .667 34 18   .654
Oregon State  ‍‍‍ 11 7   .611 29 14   .674
Washington State  ‍‍‍ 11 7   .611 27 25   .519
Oregon  ‍‍‍ 2 16   .111 16 21   .432
Southern
No. 1 Arizona State  x‍‍‍y 26 4   .867 55 13   .809
Stanford  ‍‍‍y 16 14   .533 43 22   .662
Southern California  ‍‍‍ 15 15   .500 34 24   .586
Arizona  ‍‍‍ 14 16   .467 30 22   .577
California  ‍‍‍ 12 18   .400 31 31   .500
UCLA  ‍‍‍ 7 23   .233 21 35   .375
x – Division champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 1981[8]
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1981 Southeastern Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Eastern Division
No. 15 Florida  x‍‍y 16 7   .696 42 17   .712
Kentucky  ‍‍‍ 13 9   .591 39 16   .709
Tennessee  ‍‍‍ 10 13   .435 22 27   .449
Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍ 9 12   .429 26 25   .510
Georgia  ‍‍‍ 8 15   .348 23 23   .500
Western Division
No. 6 Mississippi State  x‍‍‍y 17 6   .739 46 17   .730
Alabama  x‍‍‍ 17 6   .739 41 15   .732
Ole Miss  ‍‍‍ 8 14   .364 24 24   .500
LSU  ‍‍‍ 7 14   .333 23 30   .434
Auburn  ‍‍‍ 7 16   .304 27 27   .500
x – Division champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 1981[9]
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1981 Southern Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 17 East Tennessee State  ‍‍‍y 12 4   .750 44 17   .721
Western Carolina  ‍‍‍ 12 4   .750 25 14   .641
Marshall  ‍‍‍ 12 4   .750 22 17   .564
The Citadel  ‍‍‍ 11 5   .688 31 13   .705
Appalachian State  ‍‍‍ 8 8   .500 35 17   .673
Davidson  ‍‍‍ 7 9   .438 18 26   .409
Chattanooga  ‍‍‍ 6 10   .375 28 24   .538
Furman  ‍‍‍ 4 12   .250 11 33   .250
VMI  ‍‍‍ 0 16   .000 3 37   .075
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 1981[10]
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1981 Southwest Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
No. 3 Texas ‍y 16 5 1   .750 61 11 0   .847
Arkansas ‍‍‍ 12 9 0   .571 31 21 0   .596
Houston ‍‍‍ 11 9 0   .550 32 20 0   .615
Rice ‍‍‍ 11 10 0   .524 34 23 0   .596
Texas A&M ‍‍‍ 10 10 0   .500 35 16 0   .686
TCU ‍‍‍ 9 12 0   .429 27 19 0   .587
Texas Tech ‍‍‍ 8 13 0   .381 26 21 0   .553
Baylor ‍‍‍ 6 15 0   .286 21 24 0   .467
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of June 30, 1981[11]
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball
1981 Trans America Athletic Conference baseball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
East
Georgia Southern x‍‍ 9 0 0   1.000 41 22 1   .648
Mercer ‍‍ 3 4 0   .429 39 12 1   .760
Arkansas–Little Rock ‍‍‍ 0 6 0   .000 22 25 0   .468
West
Hardin–Simmons x‍‍‍ 8 4 0   .667 20 28 0   .417
Centenary ‍‍‍ 8 4 0   .667 33 29 0   .532
Northeast Louisiana ‍‍‍ 6 6 0   .500 33 22 0   .600
Northwestern State ‍‍‍ 2 10 0   .167 16 42 0   .276
x – Division champion
† – Conference champion
‡ – Tournament champion
As of June 30, 1981[12]
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

College World Series

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The 1981 season marked the thirty fifth NCAA baseball tournament, which culminated with the eight team College World Series. The College World Series was held in Omaha, Nebraska. The eight teams played a double-elimination format, with Arizona State claiming their fifth championship with a 7–4 win over Oklahoma State in the final.[1]

Upper round 1Upper round 2Upper finalSemifinalsPreliminary finalFinal
Mississippi State4
Michigan1
Mississippi State3
Arizona State4
Arizona State11
Texas2
Arizona State10
Oklahoma State1113
Oklahoma State810
Oklahoma State8
South Carolina5
Oklahoma State12Texas1513
Miami (FL)6
Miami (FL)6
Maine1Oklahoma State4
Texas3Arizona State7
Lower round 1Lower round 2Arizona State12
Miami (FL)4
Michigan5Texas5
Arizona State10
Texas6
South Carolina7
Mississippi State5
South Carolina12South Carolina6
Maine7

Award winners

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All-America team

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References

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  1. ^ a b c W.C. Madden & Patrick J. Stewart (2004). The College World Series:A Baseball History, 1947-2003. McFarland & Co. pp. 41–43. ISBN 9780786418428. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  2. ^ "NCAA Men's College World Series Records" (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 7. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  3. ^ "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1981". Boyd's World. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  4. ^ "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1981". Boyd's World. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  5. ^ 2012 Big Ten Baseball Record Book (PDF). Big Ten Conference. p. 101. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  6. ^ "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1981". Boyd's World. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
  7. ^ "All-time Standings" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  8. ^ "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1981". Boydsworld.com. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  9. ^ "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1981". Boydsworld.com. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  10. ^ "College Baseball Conference Standings – 1981". Boyd's World. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  11. ^ "Division I Baseball Records" (PDF). NCAA. pp. 39–40. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  12. ^ Atlantic Sun Baseball Record Book (PDF). Atlantic Sun Conference. p. 3. Retrieved March 9, 2014.